In the town of Goulburn, on the NSW southern tablelands, the supply of childcare far outstrips demand.

ABC TV

While many parents across Australia struggle to access affordable childcare, one regional centre in NSW has almost too many options available.

Demand for childcare services often outstrips supply, and most argue it's too expensive.

Some women on farms, who don't have fixed incomes, have to travel long distances to the nearest childcare centre, while in cities, many families place their unborn babies on waiting lists to try to guarantee a future place.

The daily cost of childcare has risen from $30 to about $75 per day in the past decade, and the government is using the budget to cut back childcare support.

But in Goulburn, a town of 21,000 people, the mood is positive. There are 13 childcare centres and 250 places currently available.

Childcare centre owner, Julie Kelly says the town's population has grown in recent years.

"This centre is situated in a new housing development," she said.

"There is a new housing development going up across the road and at the end of the road, which is going to be another 2000 homes.

"The price of land is affordable and the housing is affordable.

"People, I think, are starting to realise in Sydney that it's horrendous for traffic and all of those things and cost of living."

Julie Kelly says more people are moving to Goulburn from big cities, and that's created a bigger demand for childcare services.

"We have 1000 cars a day travel across to Canberra for work and most of those cars have probably two or three people, so we've got a lot of people going across to Canberra to work," she said.

"The childcare operators have been forward thinking, they've built hoping that the town will catch up with them."

It hasn't always been easy to find childcare in Goulburn. Robin Catling manages one of the town's smaller centres.

"A couple of years ago there was a very big struggle for childcare," she said.

"At the moment we've actually got a lot of corporate childcare centres that have opened up in the last five years.

"We've sort of eliminated most of the privately owned ones unfortunately but I think it was a case of we needed the demand so all these corporations came and honestly, now they've got a lot of spaces left over."

She says the increase in competition hasn't been bad for her business.

"Originally, we did think, 'oh my god' but as time's gone over, we've actually come through quite well," she said.

"Up to half an hour away we've got people driving into town to come to our childcare centre.

"Because we do a lot of training around Australia, we find we do deal with a lot of privately owned centres in the rural regions other than Goulburn, obviously, more western NSW, and they are struggling so badly.

"There is no care available and if there's a choice between two childcares, and that's it."

But Julie Kelly isn't sure how long the childcare surplus will last.

"Well we've got so much housing happening here and so many people and families moving in that we we couldn't accommodate all those children, so we would probably have to have, hopefully, another childcare centre built in five or six years time."

No matter how high or low the demand for childcare, people like Julie Kelly say it's always going to be the kids that keep her in the business.

"I love to see it when I walk in the room and their eyes light up, that they've found something, that they've discovered something and all of that.